Step 8: Use Your Points

Now that you have built up a points balance, how do you redeem those points for amazing travel?

The first step is to review airline and hotel reward charts to see how many points it will take to travel to your destination.

Hint: Book early! You’ll have the most chance for success by booking airfare about a year ahead of your departure date.

Let’s assume you’re working with 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Once you decide on a destination, check for flight options using any online travel agency website to see what flights are available. Remember that Southwest flights will not display on these sites, so go to go their website to view flights. You’ll very likely find that at least a few of Chase’s travel partners could work for you. If United, for example, is an option, then go to their website to check how many miles it would take to fly to your destination.

You can fly round trip on United from the US to Europe for 60,000 miles or from the US to Hawaii for 45,000.

Hint: Search airline alliance partners! Remember that airline alliances could get you an even better deal on a partner airline. You can use Ultimate Reward points on Chase partners Singapore Air and Korean Air, for example.

Redeeming 40,000 points on Star Alliance member, Singapore Air, can get you round trip to Hawaii via United.

Or you could also redeem 25,000 points on SkyTeam member, Korean Air, to fly coach to Hawaii via Delta. You could even fly business class to Hawaii using Korean Air for a mere 45,000 points!

You can also always transfer Ultimate Reward points to Hyatt, Marriott, or IHG hotels.

Warning: Check before you transfer. Always make sure that your airline seats or hotel room is available before transferring points. Once they’re transferred you can’t move them back.

Finally, you can always book travel using the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. You’ll usually find that transferring to partners is the better option, but checking the portal is always a good idea.

For more information on your options, check out The Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards.

You now have all the travel on points basics, so go out and see the world!